


of campers and pranksters

by the_midnight_huntress



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Eventual Romance, Fluff, M/M, Romance, minor characters - Freeform, nico is a smol grumpy kitten, prank war! AU, will is sweet and awkward
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-25 16:11:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12039519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_midnight_huntress/pseuds/the_midnight_huntress
Summary: When your door is hammered upon at three in the morning and opens to reveal a Stoll brother in a tattered black hooded sweatshirt, a potato sack over one shoulder and war-paint, you know it cannot be anything good.When said Stoll brother’s eyes are lit with a manic glee and an expression of mischief and determined innocence (or an attempt at it, anyway) on his face, you are damn sure that chaos is about to be wrought.





	1. Chapter 1

When your door is hammered upon at three in the morning and opens to reveal a Stoll brother in a tattered black hooded sweatshirt, a potato sack over one shoulder and war-paint, you know it cannot be anything good.

When said Stoll brother’s eyes are lit with a manic glee and an expression of mischief and determined innocence (or an attempt at it, anyway) on his face, you are damn sure that chaos is about to be wrought.

Those were Nico’s sentiments when he rolled out of bed and trudged to the door of Cabin Two, grumbling mingled obscenities and death threats under his breath. Connor Stoll greeted him cheerfully when the door was finally unlocked (What? It was simple personal safety!). Nico had the near irresistible urge to punch his eye out.

‘ _What do you want_?’ he hissed. ‘Do you know what time it is- hey!’

For Connor had just barrelled his way inside and started flicking on the lights.

‘Get up, guys! It’s go time!’

‘Whoozair?’ mumbled Percy, stumbling out of bed and tripping over his sheets.

‘Are we under attack?’ demanded Jason, his electric blue eyes wide and alert. How he managed that feat was beyond the comprehension of a mere mortal like Nico.

Slowly, the dozen or so boys crowded inside the room were rousing.

‘Alright, so,’ Connor began excitedly. ‘Travis and I...’ He paused for dramatic effect and Nico nearly flung the bedside lamp at him.  ‘We placed a bet with Cecil!’

‘What sort of bet?’ Paolo inquired interestedly. His heavily accented voice was slow and deep , like liquid velvet, sending pleasant shivers down Nico’s spine.

‘You better not have done something stupid, Stoll,’ Nico warned him, eyes narrowed.

Said boy chuckled nervously. ‘Well, it’s a funny story really- Cecil, Travis and I were just hanging out, you know, nothing much- well, we were comparing the pros and cons of launching a black trade, nothing large scale obviously-Anyway, to cut a long story short, we are starting a prank war. With Cabin One. Yeah.’

A blank silence greeted those words. Nico blinked heavily, and then glanced around the room at the other occupants. Clovis had fallen asleep again and Malcolm looked apprehensive.  Percy, however, had a feral grin spreading across his face.

‘A prank war sounds pretty cool,’ he admitted.

‘Are you kidding?’ Jason squawked. ‘Chiron will kill us!’

‘Oh, come on, Superman, it’s just some harmless fun!’

‘Harmless, my ass,’ Nico intervened curtly. ‘It won’t be harmless if the Stolls are involved.’ He shot the culpable boy a dark look. It was much too early- or late, whichever way you looked at it- for this. ‘So where is your brother then?’

Connor rubbed his hands together. ‘He’s, um, getting the...supplies.’

‘Let’s do this then,’ Percy cheered. ‘I’m guessing the war is on anyway, so no backing out now. That includes you too, Nico!’

Nico groaned loudly and flopped back onto the downy pillows. He just knew that they were heading for disaster.

\-----------------------------------------

The sophomore students of Good High School were taken to the much-anticipated ski trip by their Ancient History professor, Mr. Chiron, every year for a “much-deserved reward for their continuous hard work and effort and an incentive to continue work with equal diligence in the future”, as decided by the administration. If Nico had had his way, he would have skipped out altogether and instead spent the winter vacations curled up on his favourite thread-bare armchair with a good book and hot chocolate. He was not much of a fan of the cold, needless to say. As it stood, however, both Hazel and Jason had insisted upon him coming. Something about social interaction and fresh air. Admittedly, Nico had stopped listening fifteen seconds into the conversation.

Now, as he trooped into the dining hall for breakfast the next morning, he was reminded forcibly of why he had not wanted to do this. Cabin One was huddled at one end of the long wooden table, speaking in hushed tones about their first prank, if the smirks thrown in their direction was anything to go by. Clarisse La Rue cracked her knuckles.

‘Oh damn,’ whispered Travis. ‘Are the girls in it too?’

‘Seems like it,’ muttered Jason, glancing around furtively.

Nico rolled his eyes at all the dramatics.

‘Well, then, we should recruit a cabin too,’ Percy interjected. ‘I’ll talk to Annabeth. Cabin Three will be with us for sure.’

He hurried off.

Nico sighed and drummed his fingers on the table. He glanced around wearily and his eye was caught by Will Solace.

His stomach clenched uneasily as the other stared at him for a long moment, before turning away. His cheeks burned and he ducked his head. For as long as he could remember, he and Will Solace had been at loggerheads. There was not a moment when they were not quarrelling or snapping at the other, so it was rather unfortunate that they had all their classes together. Something about the other boy- from the thick, mussed, blond hair that fell into his striking blue eyes, so similar and yet so different from Jason’s, to the tanned skin, the friendly and seemingly happy-go-lucky personality- grated on Nico’s nerves. Something about him also made butterflies erupt in his stomach, sending his emotions on a whirlwind and thoughts into a conflicting maelstrom. As a result, whenever they interacted, he could help but blush and stutter and eventually lash out at him.

And now they were rivals in a _prank war_ , of all things. This could not end well.

Well, it was not like he cared for Will Solace’s opinion anyway.

Yes, he did not care at all.

His musings were interrupted by the welcome arrival of breakfast. The owners of their lodgings, a Mr and Mrs. Weatherly, were present themselves, watching over the dishes of homemade butter, cream and Spanish omelettes and a large deep dish of frittata as they were placed upon the polished surfaces. There was the choice of milk, orange juice, tea and coffee as well. To his surprise, Nico found that he was ravenous and tucked into his food with gusto. Something that Jason appeared to be pleased with.

Breakfast was followed by Nico’s worst nightmare- _activities_.

‘Come on, we’re hitting the slopes,’ hollered Leo, racing ahead.

Nico had no choice but to follow the others, since Jason was watching closely. As he bundled himself in his thick, black sweater and a scarf, he listened mindlessly to the chatter around him. He grabbed a pair of skis and shoes from Mr Weatherly and put them.

He let out a cry.

His foot had made a squelching sound as he slipped it inside the boots and now he could clearly see the reason. The boot was filled with cream- shaving cream, he realised, as the scent of peppermint wafted towards them.

‘What the hell?’ he growled, flinging the offending object as far away from himself as he could.

A roar of laughter greeted his words. Leo and Cecil were falling over each other in hysterics and Clarisse shot him a malicious smile.

Nico scowled. Of course. The stupid prank war.

He could see Will laughing along with the others and something about that stung. It sent a red-hot spike of anger coursing through him. Right then and there, Nico di Angelo swore revenge.

‘Don’t worry, bro, we’ll get them back,’ Percy said, clapping him hard on the back.

_There is no fucking doubt about_ that, he thought bitterly. _And Will Solace is_ mine.

\-----------------------------------------

They crept into Cabin One when the rest of the students were at the campfire. It had taken everyone aback, but nobody more than Hazel and Jason, when Nico had volunteered (read: demanded) to join the Stoll brothers in their endeavour.

The room was open-plan with tall windows through which the inky night sky was visible.  Even then it managed to appear cluttered and cramped. Clothes were strewn all over the gleaming tiled floors. CD jackets, books and hair products were heaped on every available inch of every available surface.

Nico decided that it was a good thing that Jason was such a neat freak after all.

‘Alright, here goes,’ Connor whispered, snickering.

He and Travis opened the sack at their feet, extracting several alarm clocks from its depths. They started setting the alarms at various times- 1:00 am, 2:00 am, 2:30 am, 4:00 am.... Nico winced in sympathy and only the memory of Will Solace joining in the chorus of mirth and laughter pushed him to continue. He snuck into the bathroom while the Stoll brothers began hiding the clocks at different places; under the bed, in someone’s suitcase, the drawer, beneath a heap of stinking clothes.

‘Hmm, which one is his?’ Nico murmured to himself as he glanced around quickly. His eyes was caught by a neon yellow travel bag adorned with a smiley faces and grimaced. ‘Yeah, that’s the one.’

He rummaged inside and found the shampoo bottle. Grinning wickedly, he completed his task and headed back to the bedroom. Travis shot him a thumbs-up. Then they left to inconspicuously join the others at the campfire.

Oh, Nico was looking forward to the aftermath.

\---------------------------------------

The next day, the boys and girls of Cabins One and Four respectively entered the dining hall in a flurry of anger and vengeance. They appeared exhausted, with dark shadows under their eyes and sallow skin. And amongst them was Will Solace, his golden locks now a sickening shade of green.

Nico felt a vindictive sense of victory and satisfaction as Will met his gaze from across the room and scowled heavily. He had to admit, Nico was perhaps the only one who could elicit such an unpleasant expression from the good-natured boy.

_That goody-two shoes had it coming_ , he thought scathingly. But as the other boy threw him another angry glare promising pain and death, he wasn’t so sure.

And so the prank war raged.

Lou Ellen, Miranda and Katie placed dozens of fake spiders in Cabin Three and they were alerted to that fact by a blood-curdling scream ensuing from the building. Annabeth was in near hysterics.

‘Spiders. Every. Where. _You are so dead_ ,’ she screeched, while Percy tried to restrain her and Piper spoke soothingly in hushed tones.

They retaliated with an ingenious trick suggested by Malcolm. The meatballs in the pasta were switched with ones made of clay when Cabin Two had dinner duty. Nico felt almost guilty, _almost_ \- for the aroma of fresh oregano, spices and herbs in the sauce was most heavenly and it was a shame to ruin such a good dish this way. But when everyone started choking and spitting out morsels of food (with the exception of a few, like Drew and Lacy, who were more well-mannered), it was definitely worth it.

Following that incident, the pranks became riskier, and their stunts, fool-hardier. An air horn was taped behind the bathroom door in their cabin so that it blared loudly when the door swung open and Clovis toppled from the bed, eyes wide and terrified. The Stoll brothers let off fireworks in Cabin One and several of its inhabitants suffered minor burns. As Will and Austin rushed around, trying to treat them with basic first-aid without letting Mr. Chiron know, a strange feeling blossomed inside Nico. Guilt- thick, heavy and burning like molten lava settling in his stomach.

This was going too far. They needed to stop.

But it was impossible to make the Stoll brothers see sense. And everyone else seemed to have gotten swept up into the tide of recklessness and revenge as well.

Meanwhile, he wondered what Will Solace had in store for him.

His answer came that evening. It was dusk, and the haphazardly-set buildings were aglow in muted oranges and gold. There were a few of them still on the slopes, Nico among them as he struggled with his skis. In his concentrated determination, he did not notice that he had trailed away from the rest so that he was somewhere near the edge of a precipice that fell away into a deep chasm.

‘Urgh, this is stupid, why did I even bother...’ He was muttering under his breath.

He did not hear the footsteps. He did not see the group of five approaching him, the mop of untidy blond hair visible like a beacon from afar or hear the gleeful whispers and snickers.

Not until it was too late.

It all happened too fast for him to comprehend and later on, whenever he tried to recall all the facts, all that came to mind was a rush of sound and a blur of colours, whirling together in a mindless vortex that frightened him, to this day. One moment he was bent over, adjusting his ski boots and the next, there was a blare of an instrument- saxophone? Trumpet? - in his ear. With a terrified scream, he stumbled away from the source.

His ankle twisted and he tripped. And Nico fell over the edge.

‘No!’ Will shouted.

There was one breath-taking, blissful moment when he was suspended in air, frozen, terrified, strands of raven hair floating eerily around his face. Then he hurtled down, twenty feet below onto the solid pack of ice and disappeared from sight.

 


	2. Chapter 2

The entire establishment was in chaos. People scurried to and fro, yelling into their cell phones and running the beams of their flashlights everywhere.

They were still searching for Nico.

Night had descended upon them, the sky inky black and twinkling with thousands of stars. There was no moon. These conditions served to make their search even more difficult. Jason was being restrained with enormous difficulty by Piper and Reyna, while Percy shouted at everything that came close. He knew that they were the self-designated big brothers of the young Italian and seeing them so worried, so frantic, sent a jolt of guilt and shame coursing through him. Annabeth was in urgent conversation with Mr. Chiron and Mr. Weatherly, trying to devise strategies.

‘We need to maximize our search radius in the minimum amount of time,’ she was saying briskly. ‘There is no knowing what might happen to him in this cold.’

Hazel was sobbing softly, with Frank’s arm around her shoulders in a comforting gesture, though he himself appeared ashen-faced and anxious.

Will observed this all from his spot in the shadows. He leaned against the wall of one of the buildings, with a deer-in-the-headlights expression on his pale face.

What had he done? How could the prank have gone so far?

He shook his head. _I didn’t know he’d react so badly_ , he argued weakly. But he knew his excuses were weak.  So caught up had he been to exact revenge on the dark-haired boy that he had never once stopped to consider the consequences.

And now....now Nico was lying somewhere, frozen half to death and unable to be found.

He pushed himself off the wall and hurried towards their trip chaperone. He simply could not stay still. He _had_ to help somehow.

‘Mr. Chiron,’ he called, rushing up to him. ‘Please assign me an area to search. I want to help.’

The man turned his weary, weather-beaten face towards Will. The eyes beneath the shaggy eyebrows were hard and glacial as he regarded the other.

‘I believe you have done enough, Mr. Solace,’ he said finally. ‘You are required to stay behind with Mr. Valdez, Mr. Markowitz, Mr. White, Ms. La Rue and Ms. Benvenuti in the dining hall.’

‘Mr. Chiron, _please_ ,’ he pleaded. ‘I’ll- I’ll go mad otherwise. Let me help look for him!’

Mr. Chiron looked at him for a long moment and then conceded. Will was assigned with Annabeth, who glared at him but offered no objections for which he was grateful.

They trekked through the snow, all of them silent. If Nico was unconscious, which he no doubt was, there was no point in calling out. Rays of golden light roved the land like spotlights. Will shivered in his jacket and thought of the other boy, contemplating the chances of him catching frostbite and hypothermia. Unfortunately, the odds were very high.

Suddenly there was a shout from somewhere to their right.

‘We found him!’ Mr. Weatherly yelled.

They ran pell-mell through the snow. Will’s heart was hammering in his chest. Fear churned like acid in his veins. How bad was his condition? How would they even treat him? The nearest hospital was miles away and they only had the most rudimentary of medical amenities!

When they reached the ski lodge, they found that Nico had been moved to Mr and Mrs. Weatherly’s own bedroom in the main lodge. Will pushed through the crowd present on the threshold.

‘I’m a pre-med, I can help,’ he said breathlessly when he finally reached the room.

Jason spun on him. ‘You,’ he snarled and it was startling to see the otherwise-friendly boy with that terrifying fury on his face. ‘You stay away from him!’

‘Jason-‘Piper began.

Reyna placed a placatory hand on Jason’s arm and regarded Will coolly. ‘Help him as best as you can.’

He nodded. Everyone was ushered out, except for Kayla and Austin who helped him.

\---------------------------------

Nico groaned loudly as he swam into consciousness. Everything appeared fuzzy around the edges and then his vision sharpened. The deep, brown ceiling was the first to come into focus, followed by the large, airy windows where pale pink curtains fluttered in a slight breeze.

Then the pain hit him with the full force of a rampaging boar, pin-pricks of white-hot needles all over his body- his head and arms especially. He cried out.

‘Hey, hey, it’s okay,’ a voice spoke soothingly from beside him. ‘You’re okay.’

Eyes watering, Nico turned his head. His breath caught.

In the dim lighting of the room, the mass of blond curls, mussed up as though fingers had been run through them in frustration, appeared like a halo. The tanned skin, the sprinkling of light freckles and the vibrant blue eyes all complimented the picture. Nico was sure he had died and gone to heaven, for surely this was an angel.

And then the image came into focus and he realised just _who_ that person was.

‘What the hell are you doing here?’ he tried to snarl but all that came out was a gurgle.

Will must have understood anyway, or noticed the fury on his face, because he sighed tiredly and lowered his head.

‘I’m your medic for now,’ he muttered. ‘But Mr. Weatherly has called up a person from the Red Tier Hospital that’s situated at the base of the mountain. They’ll be arriving soon. Until then, I’ll be looking after you.’

‘Like...hell you...will,’ he rasped, still scowling. ‘You’re the one...who pushed me off in the first place!’

‘I didn’t push you off,’ Will said hotly. ‘It was a prank and it went too far! I didn’t know you’d react so badly!’

Nico snorted and rolled his eyes, though the rather forceful motions hurt his head even more. He realised his skull was swathed heavily in crisp, white bandages and his right arm in a makeshift splint. Other than that, the pale skin of every exposed area- arms, legs, neck, face- was covered in bruises and scratches as though he had fallen through a bramble bush.

‘What happened?’ he asked after a long pause.

Will fidgeted uneasily and Nico was pleased to see an embarrassed flush on his cheeks.

‘We just wanted to give you a scare, nothing too serious. But we didn’t realise how close to the edge you were and...well, none of us thought you’d be _that_ frightened. You suffered a concussion, a broken leg and bruises and cuts since you hit a few rocks on your way down. There is hypothermia, obviously, but luckily you didn’t get frostbite. We just need to keep you warm and in bed until the doctor arrives. They’ll be able to treat you properly. There’s a chance you might need to be taken to the hospital.’ Will spoke in a rush as though it would be less unpleasant for Nico to hear all this that way.

Nico closed his eyes. ‘I knew coming to this ski trip was a bad idea.’ Then a thought occurred to him and he glanced at his rival in confusion. ‘How do you know all this anyway? How are you even qualified to act as a stand-in medical professional until the doctor arrives?’

‘I’m pre-med.’ Will shrugged. ‘I always dreamed of being a doctor. I wanted to help people. And I have been doing internships at the local hospital... so yeah.’

For some reason, the thought was very amusing. Nico smirked.

‘Yeah, figures,’ he mumbled.

Will heard him. ‘What is that supposed to mean?’

‘It means that you are a goody-two-shoes and perfect in everything to do so it makes absolute sense that you’d be pre-med.’

The blond boy scowled heavily. ‘What’s your problem anyway? What do you have against me?’

‘Me? What do _you_ have against _me_?’

‘I don’t know!’ Will threw up his hands in frustration. ‘You started this whole rivalry in our freshman year. I just...’ He trailed off uncertainly. ‘I don’t understand. Did I do something to hurt you? If I did, I’m sorry. I really, really am.’

The sincerity in those wide cerulean eyes, the crestfallen pout upon those lips and the dejected air around him as though he truly cared for Nico’s opinion, served to act as a punch to the Italian’s stomach. Guilt writhed in his stomach and he swallowed.

‘Well, I...’ What was there to say after all? That Will rubbed him up the wrong way due to his utmost cheeriness and popularity? It was impossible to voice that out loud without sounding like a jealous asshole or a bitter individual or both.

There was only silence for a long time, punctuated only by the ticking of the clock on the adjacent wall.

‘You, uh...’Will cleared his throat. ‘You jump at loud noises, right?’

Nico narrowed his eyes in response. Every part of his body was aching and his nose was blocked and his throat was scratchy. He was not in the mood for Solace’s games, if that was what he intended.

‘That’s a sign of post traumatic stress disorder. Do you...?’ Will broke off at the look on Nico’s face.

It was frozen in an expression of shock, terror, pain and guilt. His eyes were dark, darker than a stormy night, crackling with restless energy and warning Will to stay away. He ploughed on anyway.

‘It might help, you know, to talk about it.’

‘And what makes you think I haven’t talked about it?’ Those sharp, regal features appeared as though carved out of marble- cold and fathomless. Will wanted to reach out to him, to comfort. (He had the mad urge to embrace the smaller boy, for he appeared so vulnerable, so world-weary.) ‘Stay out of my business, Solace.’

There was another long silence. Frankly, Will was getting tired of those.

To his surprise, Nico spoke up finally. ‘My sister...’ He cleared his throat. ‘My sister- not Hazel, I had another sister named Bianca. She died when I was ten years old. There was a thunderstorm that day. She was out in that weather for God knows what reason and...the car came out of nowhere.’ Will made soft sound of distress but Nico went on. ‘The car slipped on the wet road, I think. Both my sister and the driver died on the spot. I have- I have been afraid of the thunderstorms and of loud noises in general since then.’

Will sat in his hard-backed chair, mind reeling and heart heavy. His guilt had multiplied tenfold in the last few hours until it felt like a physical weight pressing down on him. He imagined it was tar, thick and black and sticky, coating his skin and his insides; inescapable. He had never felt worse.

‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered.

Without stopping to think, to consider the consequences, he launched himself at the dark-haired boy and enveloped him in a fierce hug. Nico let out a squeak but surprisingly, did not push him away or punch him, for that matter.

‘You should rest,’ Will spoke softly, pulling away. ‘I’ll tell Mr. Chiron you woke up. You’ll friends will want to see, no doubt.’

Something was stinging the back of his eyes. Nico stared at him wonderingly.

‘Solace...?’

‘No worries,’ he said with faux cheer. ‘I’ll see you later. Sleep tight, Death Boy.’

‘Do _not_ call me Death Boy!’

He managed a wet snort and a wavering smile, before he fairly rushed from the room.

\-----------------------------------------

‘You shouldn’t be out of bed!’

‘I’m fine!’

‘You’ll jostle your arm. And your head is still sensitive. Too much excitement is not healthy!’

‘I said I’m fine!’

‘Come on, Neeks, you hate campfires anyway, why are you insisting on going tonight?’

‘So that I can murder the Stolls! It’s all their fault!’

‘...I’m pretty sure that counts as too much excitement.’

‘Leave me alone, Solace.’

‘Nope.’ Said boy appeared infuriatingly smug.

This scenario, unfortunately, was becoming quite the norm; Will Solace was following him around, commanding him to rest and eat properly in order to hasten his healing process and Nico appeared moody and aggravated.

Nico growled under his breath. What was his problem anyway? He seemed determined to befriend the brooding Italian after the entire prank-gone-too-far fiasco. Nico was beginning to regret ever spilling the beans back in the Weatherlys’ bedroom. It certainly did not help matters that Will Solace had the most adorable puppy-dog eyes that he was not immune to and the splash of freckles across his nose and peppering the smooth column of his throat like sprinkling stars across the night sky was too distracting-

Okay. Rewind. He was _not_ supposed to be thinking that.

He slumped onto a log near the bonfire, trying very hard to ignore the smirks aimed his way by Piper or the narrow-eyed gaze levelled by Jason.

‘Hey, Hazel,’ he greeted his sister instead.

She beamed at him from her perch on the adjacent log. Frank gave him a small wave and Nico nodded back. He had expected Will to leave him to rejoin his friends but to his utter surprise and confusion, he plopped down right next to Nico, so close that their arms brushed. A jolt of current, a tingling warmth, spread across his skin from the point of contact and Nico pulled away with a gasp.

‘What is it, Nico?’ Will inquired anxiously, peering at him and his eyes were _so, so blue-_

Nico cleared his throat. ‘Uh, just jostled my arm a bit.’

He gazed steadfastly at the fire. The flames crackled merrily, spiralling upwards towards the sky. His thoughts were in disarray. What was going on with him? He hated Solace! But even as that thought emerged, he knew it was not true. Solace was overly optimistic, eternally cheerful, stubborn as a mule and frankly, rather annoying. But he had been nothing but amicable towards him- until Nico spurned his gestures of friendship, that is.

The campfire started. There was much laughter and singing and the Stolls were caught red-handed attempting to set off fireworks near Butch Walker. They were severely berated for their recklessness by Mr. Chiron, much to Nico’s pleasure.

As night approached, everyone began gathering their belongings and trooping towards their respective cabins. Will and Nico followed suit, the latter keeping an appreciable distance from the other, afraid of his own emotions and his thoughts. He had only just befriended Will. He did not want to make things awkward between them. It would be like Percy all over again- the confusion, the heartbreak, him spiralling deeper and deeper into depression until he felt like he could no longer escape the shadows-

‘Neeks...?’

He jolted back to his surrounding, his musings harshly interrupted. Will gazed at him in concern. Nico swallowed.

‘Sorry, just a little...tired.’

‘I told you it would be too vigorous an excursion, but you never listen!’ Will huffed. ‘Just head straight to bed, okay?’

‘Yeah. Okay.’

Will smiled then. And Nico’s world stopped. The smile was filled with such tenderness and guilt and repentance that it stole his breath away, filled him with guilt at having rejected the boy so many times in the past; fuelled the flames of a hatred that was baseless, foolish even.

‘I’ll see you tomorrow then?’ Will asked hesitantly.

In a daze, Nico could only nod. Will flashed him a brilliant smile and then he was gone, leaving nothing but a lingering scent of pineapples, dust and cool autumn wind.

Nico hoped it was the start of something good.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand that's a wrap, folks! My first ever two-shot is complete! I might do a teeny epilogue if you guys want, or I might not, if you prefer to leave the ending open-ended. Let me know your thoughts please! All feedback, criticism and ideas are welcomed!  
> I love you all to bits and pieces.
> 
> Find me on my tumblr: themidnighthuntress


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